If you're a fan or collector of the ever tremendous Aberlour A'Bunadh series, and you've always wanted to get your hands on one of the earlier batches, here's your chance! This bottle right here comes from batch number six, which is not far off the beginning of time when it comes to A'Bunadh. Before, I had mentioned this to be one of our favorite single malt scotch whiskies, so our review of the taste is going to lean that way. There are a lot of things that are good about Aberlour, and one thing I love. Let’s start with the good. Our own Master of Malt bottle of Aberlour single malt, distilled in November 2012 and matured for six years in a refill hogshead. Brimming with vibrant, zesty fruit and oily, nutty malt, there are just 58 bottles of this one. The Aberlour Distillery is, as the name suggests in Aberlour. Specifically in a location called the River Spey. It is described as a magical location, and the distillery itself is small. James Fleming founded the Aberlour Distillery in 1879.

12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Aberlour 12 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky | Aberlour

Whisky is an industrial-process created product, and that includes the cask supply-chain, which has been pretty much entirely synthetic for nearly 40 years. Put aside the marketing and notions of spunky quaint Scotsmen thriftily reusing old casks, and understand that sherry casks, and the sherry used to season them, are a manufactured components (of varying quality, depending on intended use for given end-product price-points), used in the production of products sold in a multi-billion dollar industry. This is why sherry casks are vastly more expensive: they aren’t a byproduct of any other production process (e.g. ex-bourbon cask), as they once were, prior to 1981. In this article, we’re going to cover the taste, price, and value of Aberlour. But before we get there, let’s cover some of the history of Aberlour, where it comes from, and what it means to be a single malt scotch. Aberlour History What I love, though, is the balance of flavors that comes from the double cask. Often times, when something is aged in sherry casks, the fruity flavors can be overwhelming. Similarly, in ex-bourbon casks the flavor can become oaky and leather. This isn’t to say being aged in a single cask is a bad thing at all, but the balance Aberlour 12 Year brings to the table with the double cask is what we enjoy so much. Aberlour 12 Year Price The Aberlour village is situated in the beautiful heart of Speyside. Surrounded by the vast and stunning Highland scenery of Ben Rinnes, and sits where the Lour burn meets the River Spey. The soft and pure spring water makes Aberlour Whiskey unlike anything else.Nothing in the Terms shall exclude or limit our liability for fraudulent misrepresentation or for death or personal injury resulting from gross negligence or willful misconduct by us. When the seasoning is finished, the wine is taken out and often re-used. After a few seasoning runs it will be discarded. The wine can’t legally be sold as sherry and it’s not suited for consumption anyway. Usually it will be distilled into sherry brandy or used to produce sherry vinegar. Unsurprisingly perhaps, one of the largest producers of sherry casks (Páez Lobato) is also the largest producer of sherry vinegar (Páez Morilla).” A’bunadh means ‘original’ in Gaelic. This is a cask-strength version of Aberlour and each barrel is different. As a cask strength whisky, each bottle will come in around the 60% ABV mark, give or take. 16 Year and 18 Year This is one of those bottles that I always have to keep in my shoulder. Every friend who has not dealt with whisky tastes good, I call it liquid apple pie :)

Aberlour 12 Year Old Scotch Whisky : The Whisky Exchange

Before we get into the flavor profile of Aberlour, let’s answer the question, what exactly is Aberlour? Aberlour 12 year is a double cask, single malt scotch from the Speyside region that is aged 12 years. Let’s break it down. No partnership, joint venture, agency, or employment relationship is created as a result of your use of the Service. Single cask Aberlour here, at a hefty 60.9% ABV under the Bein A'Cheo label by the Scottish Liqueur Centre. It was aged in a single cask, which filled 295 bottles. The price point works well, making it a whiskey that could be a regular favorite but might not be the place’s pride. Whiskybase B.V. is the Dutch private limited liability company, having its statutory seat in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and its office at Zwaanshals 530, 3035 KS Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Whiskybase B.V. is registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under no. 52072819.Below are some frequently asked questions about Aberlour. Many of these are answered in the article above. How Should I Drink Aberlour? Without prejudice to the section Liability below, the Service may be temporarily unavailable during maintenance, updates, etc. We shall make reasonable efforts to inform you of any unavailability due to maintenance or updates. Aberlour 12 Year is a deliciously smooth single malt scotch that comes in at a fair price point, not a cheap one. obviously, we like Aberlour and have given it a very good review, but the best way to determine if you like it is to go buy a bottle yourself. Owned by Chivas Brothers, a subsidiary of Pernod Ricard, Aberlour is the seventh bestselling Scotch single malt. The distillery was rebuilt twice due to devastating fire damage; the first rebuild took place in 1879 and was financed by James Fleming, a local banker who relocated it upstream. It was rebuilt again in 1898 and was redesigned by the architect Charles Doig. The core expression, a ten year-old, is a marriage of sherry and bourbon butt and, in 2003, it won the trophy for best single malt at the International Wine and Spirits Competition. James Fleming was born in 1830 to a tenant farmer, and after growing up working on the farm, James decided he wanted to do something else. Over the decades, he had done everything from distilling to trading and banking. In 1871, he had moved to the town of Aberlour and begun making a name for himself in the community. 8 years later, in 1879, he opened up the Aberlour distillery.

Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Single Malt Scotch Whisky

I found a nice deal on the 12 year recently and thought I’d give Aberlour another shot to prove to me that it’s not only good for a’bunadh. (Would that really be so bad?) This, a “double-cask matured” single malt, is basically their answer for the now nearly-ubiquitous trend of thinning out your expensive sherried whisky with some not-quite-as-expensive ex-bourbon whisky, as pioneered by The Balvenie DoubleWood line. That makes it sound more cynical than it is: ex-bourbon casks can lend buttery caramel notes and a wider array of flavors to balance out the effects of a wine cask.Here at Barrel & Brew, we typically drink Aberlour with close friends and family around a fire pit, during holidays, or to celebrate birthdays and milestones. This typically results in us enjoying a bottle every month or every other month. Aberlour Selection While you might be expecting a deeper oak hint, you don’t get that. In fact, you get just an indication of the oak and plenty of cinnamon spice and vanilla. With Water: A few drops of water mix up the fruits and flowers on the aroma – making them harder to place. The palate seems thinner, but the finish has more fruit. I would probably skip the water, since I liked the aroma so much in the first place. Regardless of whether the Service offers the functionality to contribute, you are solely responsible and liable for any content and information that you create, upload, post, publish, link to, duplicate, transmit, record, display or otherwise make available on the Service or to other Members, such as chat messages, text messages, videos, audio, audio recordings, music, pictures, photographs, text and any other information or materials, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (“Contributions”).

Aberlour 12 Year Old Double Cask Matured Whisky

Aberlour (pronounced ‘Ab-er-LAU-errr’) sits at the base of the rugged mountain range, Ben Rinnes. Nestled in the village of the same name, the distillery was founded by Peter Weir and James Gordon in 1826, though Peter was to pull out a year later. The village lies on the Lour Burn, which converges with the River Spey just 270 metres from the distillery. The 6th century Celtic saint St Drostan, baptised local chiefs in the distillery’s water source. Released over a decade ago, this is the original No Batch release of Aberlour a'Bunadh. An incredible collector's item which is likely to fly off our shelves in minutes, this is a rare find, particularly for lovers of the intense A'Bunadh series. Although it is noted as apple and fruity, there are some powerful hints. Red grapefruit is one of the first notes you will notice, swiftly followed by a gooseberry and kiwi taste. However, Aberlour’s 12-year-old whisky does have a real pull towards the citrus with the lemon verbena. So let’s be clear: retired American Oak (which is what Bodegas in Spain currently use for their solera systems) solera casks aren’t good candidates for whisky maturation and virtually none are available anyway. Anything that’s labeled as matured in ex-sherry is either European Oak or American Oak that’s seasoned. Period. Ten full years ago, I reviewed Aberlour 10-year on this blog, as one of my first posts. Amazing how time flies. My ‘review’ was about 2 sentences long, the bar that I bought the dram at doesn’t exist any more, and Aberlour 10 is no longer available in the US (although it is available in the UK). Also, I referred to its color as “orange”. Yikes.If we decide not to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms, such decision shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services. The same as Aberlour 12, but aged an extra 4 and 6 years, respectively. I have not had the 18 Year, but in my personal opinion, the 16 Year was not worth the additional price in comparison to the 12 Year. Aberlour Casg Annamh Palate: Syrupy body. Honey again, with almost no tongue burn at all. Dried apricots and golden figs replace the tart fruits from the aroma. There is a faint layer of oakiness, mostly with notes of cinnamon and vanilla. They describe this as a fine sherried character, with a fruity and rich chocolate balance. But what can you really expect? Well, it feels syrupy; in fact, it is so close to honey that you are hard-pressed to find any tongue tingle in it at all.